With the adage, “you don’t know where you’re going until you know just where you’ve been”, close at hand, the Beachwood Historical Alliance brings you, section by section, the entire current Beachwood Borough Master Plan, Final Draft – June 13, 2000. As each new portion is placed here in the main area of the site, we will add it to the “Master Plan” section of the site, accessible by clicking its tab at the top.
Parts of the text have been enhanced with hyperlinks to allow expanded understanding of the concepts held within. Maps, figures and graphs provided within the plan, if missing here, will be added shortly with accompanying links.
Portion of original survey by A.D. Nickerson.
MASTER PLAN
Borough of Beachwood
Ocean County, New Jersey
Draft: June 18, 1999
Revised Draft: March 20, 2000
Final Draft: June 13, 2000
Introduction
Beachwood Borough derived its name from two of its principal natural attributes; the “beach” that extends along the southern bank of the Toms River; and the “wood” consisting of pitch pine, oak, and Atlantic white cedar which is found throughout the Borough. The name was given by the developer, [Bertram] Chapman Mayo, in 1914 and the “beach” and “wood” theme was utilized in the naming of streets with nautical names including Capstan, Mizzen, Spray and Starboard, and the names of trees including Oak, Maple, Birch, Spruce, and Hickory.
The Borough was initially established as a promotion for the New York Tribune newspaper. The lots were laid out, or “platted”, by a business associate of the promoter in late 1914. Eventually, 30,000 lots were created, most of them being 20 x 100 foot lots. Generally, four lots were combined to create 80 x 100 foot buildable lots.
This Master Plan represents a comprehensive updating of the December 14, 1992 Master Plan as last amended in 1997. Since the adoption of its first Master Plan in 1974, the Borough of Beachwood adopted updated Master Plans in 1985 and 1992.
This Master Plan is divided into two parts: Planning Background and Master Plan. The Planning Background includes information pertaining to the regional setting, historical and current population data, projected population growth, existing land use data, and natural features of the Borough. The Master Plan includes plan elements for land use, housing, circulation, parks and recreation, and community facilities.
Planning Background
Regional Setting
Beachwood Borough is an almost fully developed suburban community located in east central Ocean County along the southern bank of the Toms River (see Figure 2 – 1). Lying south of New York City and northeast of Philadelphia, it is accessible to the regional highway network serving these areas including the Garden State Parkway that extends to northern and southern New Jersey, and Routes 37 and 70 that extend to southwestern New Jersey. County roadways provide additional links to other regional highways that interconnect with regional urban centers.
The Borough shares boundaries with four municipalities. To the north, Beachwood is bordered by the Borough of South Toms River and Dover Township, to the east by Pine Beach Borough, and to the south and west by Berkeley Township.
Beachwood Borough’s close proximity to the Atlantic Ocean and its location to the coastal area and within the Pinelands region of New Jersey greatly influenced the development of the Borough. In its early development, the Borough was a mix of seasonal and permanent residents. With the extension of the Garden State Parkway into Ocean County in the 1950s, Beachwood Borough began developing primarily as year-round residences. The Borough’s proximity to Philadelphia and New York provided easy access for seasonal residents.
In 1973 the Borough area east of the Garden State Parkway was included in the New Jersey Coastal Area Facilities Review Act (CAFRA) regulatory area and in 1980 the area west of the Garden State Parkway was included in the Pinelands National Reserve and Pinelands Commission regulatory area. Beachwood Borough contains 2.8 square miles or 1,792 acres. The CAFRA area containing approximately 1,378 acres or 77 percent of the Borough area is regulated by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. CAFRA regulations require the review of residential projects of 25 or more units and commercial development with 50 or more parking spaces for drainage and environmental impacts of the development. The area west of the Garden State Parkway includes approximately 414 acres or 23 percent of the Borough and is within the Pinelands National Reserve under the jurisdiction of the Pinelands Commission. The Pinelands Commission’s Comprehensive Management Plan limits development potential in the Pinelands portion of the Borough. The Pinelands Plan is designed to protect and preserve the one million acre Pinelands National Reserve, the first National reserve in the nation.
Historical Background*
Beachwood Borough was incorporated on March 22, 1917. It was formed from the Township of Berkeley and became the 27th of the present 33 municipalities in Ocean County. Ocean County was formed on February 15, 1850 from Monmouth and a portion of Burlington Counties.
Prior to becoming an incorporated municipality, “Beachwood” was formally established as a 2,000 acre development that was surveyed and platted by A.D. Nickerson, Civil Engineer, and filed with the Ocean County Clerk’s Office on September 12, 1914. “Beachwood” was utilized as a sales promotion for subscriptions for the New York Tribune. In October 1914, the Tribune released an elaborate extra section and announced:
Subscribe for the New York Tribune and Secure a Lot in Beautiful Beachwood.
Buy our paper for six months at 11 cents a week,
and we’ll throw in a lot at a special discount price.
New York City had become the staging ground for ruthless newspaper circulation battles; each promotion was an attempt to top the previous one. Free gifts and discounted merchandise abounded in the attempt to add subscribers. The mastermind behind the Beachwood free lot promotion for the Tribune was [Bertram] Chapman Mayo. He was not new to this type of promotion. Mayo used this promotion for newspaper and magazine subscriptions in California before returning to the East Coast to repeat his previous success.
Mayo attempted to purchase the Beachwood land himself but land prices were increased during his attempt. He then partnered with a friend who was charged with quietly purchasing the land for Mayo’s scheme. Once the land was obtained, Mayo divided it into approximately 30,000 lots of 20 by 100 feet. For the newspaper subscriber, a lot was priced at $19.60 and payable at $2.80 a month.
By the summer of 1915, almost 100 new owners and families were visiting their subscription or newspaper lots, either staying in the 37 room inn that Mayo and his friend built or just camping out on their land. In addition to the inn, Mayo and his partner built a boardwalk and yacht club to make the community seem more attractive.
The New York Tribune was not the only paper in the east attempting land promotions. In fact, large parts of neighboring Pine Beach Borough were sold as promotions for the Philadelphia Bulletin after World War I. Other “newspaper subdivisions” were created in Berkeley, Manchester and Lakewood Townships.
To this day, not all of the 30,000 lots have been developed. The inn is gone but the Beachwood Yacht Club still exists, although not in the original building. Some descendants of the original buyers still reside in Beachwood. The Mayo name will live on in Beachwood, not just as a part of its legacy, but also in the name of the beachfront park along the Toms River named Mayo Park, which is named after [Bertram] Chapman Mayo.
The boundaries of Beachwood Borough were established with the creation of the Borough by Chapter 92, Laws of 1917, approved on March 22, 1917. The boundaries were amended by Chapter 162, Laws of 1923, on March 21, 1923 when a portion of the borough between Jakes Branch and Dover Road west of the present Tilton Road was returned to Berkeley Township. (This area became part of South Toms River when it was formed in 1927). The Borough boundaries were again changed with the annexation of 144.007 acres from Berkeley Township for the Beachwood Elementary School by Chapter 21, Laws of 1990 until May 10, 1990 when 14 acres were added to the borough from Berkeley Township to provide for expansion of the Beachwood Elementary School on May 10, 1990.
* = Asbury Park Press, July 1, 1990, “Beachwood Born of Lots Given Away”.
